A/N- I knew I said I'll be updating more frequently but I just couldn't get myself to write this chapter. Writing this chapter was difficult and time consuming since I am not a writer at heart and so I found it difficult to write action scenes. I am not an American so my knowledge of American accents as well as the streets of New York is fairly limited and so please forgive me if I've made any technical errors and feel free to let me know so I can change them. And while I appreciate the fact that more and more people are following my story, I would really love it if you guys could leave comments as they're a more concrete kind of a feedback and also because I LOVE READING THEM. I hope you guys like this chapter.
"Smith does not HAVE an older sister" she exclaimed, looking at Thompson, whose face mirrored her horrified expression.
The colour drained out of their faces, all three of them stood in shocked silence for a moment when Peggy suddenly came to her senses and spoke up, "It's them… it's Leviathan"
"But why now, I mean they know that Smith couldn't have told us anything because he hardly knew anything himself" frowned Jack.
"He's a liability. He knows about them…at least about their existence, and they can't have that." replied Peggy.
"So…. Does this mean they're going to…." asked the junior Agent, when Peggy and Jack answered his question together, "Kill him"
"We have to alert the NYPD and we'll have our own agents scout the city for their vehicle. Damn we might even be too late" muttered Jack.
"You, what's your name?" he barked.
"Robert Anderson" replied the agent, waiting for his reprimand.
"Yeah Anderson, alert the NYPD and send Johansson, Roberts, Scott and Ramirez to scout the city. And tell them every damn detail you can remember about that car and the woman that came with it. Now leave" barked Jack.
Just as the agent was leaving the cabin, Jack called out, "You better hope we find Smith alive, Anderson or you will have your ass fired from the SSR, got it?"
Anderson nodded meekly and quickly left the room to do his assigned task, very eager not to get fired from the SSR.
"We can't just wait for the police or these agents to find him" said Peggy.
"You got a better idea?" Jack asked.
"We should be looking for them ourselves. We don't know what we're facing and we can't trust the police to be able to handle this. Remember, she's most likely a trained Soviet assassin. She'll kill him the moment they're out of the crowded city and some semi trained police officer is not going to stand a chance" she said.
"You're right. Let's head out. But wait" he suddenly halted, his eyes widening.
"The Russian!" Peggy exclaimed, seemingly reading his mind, "Oh god let's bloody hope he hasn't been smuggled out as well"
They both stepped out of the cabin and Peggy went up to Anderson, who was busy making phone calls, and asked him, "Agent Anderson, where has the Russian been taken? Is he still here?"
"Don't tell me you lost him too Anderson, or I might just end up killing you right here" warned Jack as he approached the man.
"Hey Peggy, Thompson what the hell is going on here? I was out for like 10 minutes and now…what is going on?" enquired Daniel, hobbling towards them.
"Smith was kidnapped by a woman claiming to be his older sister" Jack said.
"Older sister? I thought his sister was like 14-" began Sousa, when Peggy stopped him.
"Yes we know. It was a ruse." She then turned towards Anderson and said impatiently, "Well? Are you done listening in to our conversation or shall I get you a cup of tea while you think of an answer, Agent. Is the Russian inside the SSR at this moment?"
"No, I mean he's supposed to be in the building, Chief said he wanted him here so I got him locked up on the second floor, with a parole officer accompanying him" replied Anderson.
"Is he still there? Or haven't you bothered to check that? Jack asked, coldly.
"Uh I was just going to, after I made these calls" stuttered the man, looking more terrified than ever.
"Bloody Nora" cried Peggy, now running out of the office on to the second floor, Jack running behind her.
In a minute when they had both reached the cells where they kept those people who had been brought in for questioning, Peggy and Jack quickly walked towards the very last cell, the only one that had been occupied by the Russian.
When they reached the cell, they found the man, lying on the floor, his mouth covered in a white fuzzy substance, and they both knew it was a lost cause.
"Damn it, he bit the pill. I can bet it was the parole officer. No one else could've had access to him besides the SSR agents." exclaimed Jack.
"We really have IDIOTS working at the SSR" he said, punching the wall angrily.
"Jack, this is not the time to criticize our agents. We need to find Smith or he'll be dead. Let's leave" said Peggy, a resolved look on her face.
"But where will we look for them ? They could be anywhere in this whole goddamn city!" exclaimed Jack.
"Well we have to start somewhere. Come on let's grab a car and leave. We don't have time to waste" said Peggy impatiently, as she hurried down the stairs, Jack following her.
Just as Jack had collected his car keys, Daniel, who seemed to be on the telephone motioned for them to stop for a moment. He put down the receiver and said in an urgent tone, "We just got intel that a blue Ford being driven by a redhead accompanied by a man who fits Smith's description was seen five minutes ago on Lexington Avenue. She ran a red light and was seen heading towards Third avenue"
"3 cars with 2 Agents each have been dispatched about 3 minutes ago and they're heading straight to Third Avenue as we speak. The NYPD has also been informed" said Anderson, who seemed to be trying to make up for his grave mistake.
"If that woman is who we think she is, she is capable of killing every single one of them" replied Peggy.
"Come on, we ought to head out to, do our bit" said Jack as he picked up his coat and left the office with Peggy.
As they were rushing through the streets of New York, Peggy suddenly said, "You do realize she'll be long gone till the time we reach her, right?"
"Yeah but where else are we gonna look for her? We don't know anything else except the car she's driving, if she hasn't ditched the car already"
"What I don't understand is that why not kill Smith as soon as they left the office premises? They could've just shot him and left him to die in the streets and no one could've suspected them" said Peggy, frowning.
"Smith was in custody for days and maybe they think he told us something important. Or maybe they just think he'll know how far along are we with this case and they just want that information before they finish him off" replied Jack.
"Oh my god!" Peggy cried, her eyes widening
"What? What is it" asked Jack urgently.
"Grekov! He might be under risk too if Smith tells them we know where the typewriter came from!" she said.
"Damn! We gotta get to his workshop. Smith will probably be spilling his guts out if he thinks they'll let him live if he tells the truth"
As they were rushing towards the Bronx, which is where Grekov's shop was located, the radio inside Jack's car which was connected to the SSR's, suddenly started emitting static noises. Peggy quickly turned the dial up and down to catch sound. Suddenly, Daniel Sousa's voice was on the other end.
"Peggy? Thompson? Can you hear me?" his voice crackled through the radio.
"Yes yes Daniel, we're right here, what is it?" spoke Peggy, holding the receiver close to her mouth.
"Yeah there's no point in going Lexington Avenue. Our agents found the car and a dead NYPD officer. Shot in the head at point blank range. His car however, is missing. She seems to have ditched her own and is now believed to be driving the police vehicle." he was saying, when Peggy cut him off.
"Listen, Daniel, we're heading towards Grekov's shop. He may be in danger if Smith has revealed that he talked to us."
"Alright. Be safe" he said, "And I 'll be in touch if there's any new information and they heard the radio static once again, signifying the end of the call.
About 15 minutes later they reached the Bronx. On the other side of the street, they saw a police car parked. A look passed between Peggy and Jack, and both of them took out their guns, and crossed the street, their eyes on the lookout for any activity.
They saw a homeless man sitting on the pavement, his clothes ragged and his skin coated in grime. He was staring at them, more importantly at the guns in their hands.
" If he's been here for a while he must have seen something" Peggy said in a low voice, as they both approached the man.
" You seen anything suspicious round here? A woman and a man coming out of that police car, maybe?" asked Jack, pointing to the police car parked on the other side of the road.
"Lots of strange things happening in America these days… I ain't paying attention to all of 'em" the homeless man replied, "I just go about my business, I ain't looking for trouble sir" he added, with a toothless smile.
"Sir" said Peggy, thinking that if they needed some information from this man, Jack's rough tone would not be useful, "We just wanted to know if you've seen someone step out of that police vehicle"
"Like I said, lots of strange things going around the city these days. A lady holding a pistol… what has the world come to?!" the man cackled.
Jack who was losing patience by the minute, now pointed his gun at the man and said, "Listen, do you want to tell us what you know or am I going to have to make you speak. Trust me man you're not going to like it"
"We'll pay you 5 dollars if you tell us what happened" said Peggy in an exasperated tone, not wanting to go ahead with Jack's theatrics. Jack threw her an angry look.
"Alright alright, there was a man and a woman who stepped outta that car, and the lady seemed to be holding something behind the man's back, seemed like a gun, now that I think of it. He was sayin something like, " I know nothing" but that dame wasn't in the mood to listen, I suppose. Dragged him to this shop," the man said, pointing to Grekov's shop, "he was whimpering like a little baby, that man"
"And then?" urged Peggy, "Did you see anything inside the shop?"
"Well, seemed like she was talking to the man at the counter, but after a few minutes I couldn't see no one. "
"What do you mean? No one came out of that shop? How's that possible, that shop looks empty right now " asked Jack, roughly.
"I am telling what I saw mister, and I ain't seen no one come out of that shop once they went in." replied the man.
"Now that I've told you everything I know, I think it's time for my payment" said the man, holding out his hand.
Jack carelessly threw the money at the man as both he and Peggy now neared the shop, taking cautious steps. They both still had their guns in their hands, as Peggy pushed the door open.
Inside they saw no signs of activity, except for the fact that there was no one manning the counter and the door had been left open. To make sure there was no one lurking in the corners, Jack motioned for Peggy to silently sweep the area and she and Jack quietly moved about the room.
Jack came across a door on which the words STORE ROOM were written in bold letters. He turned the door knob as noiselessly as was possible and went inside to have a look.
Once inside, he saw that the room contained nothing but old typewriters, new models, spare parts. The floor was dusty and there were old screws and other stuff lying around and a big wooden crater covered with a cloth was lying in the corner. Once he had made sure that the room was empty, he called out to Peggy, "Room's clear"
A few seconds later Peggy came inside the room. Taking a look around, she said, "But where on earth did they go, then? How could they have magically disappeared in broad daylight?"
"I think that homeless son of a bitch was just messin' with us. Looking for a way to make some money. What a waste of time! " said Jack, angrily, "Peggy? What are you staring at" he asked, looking around, for Peggy seemed to be staring at something in the corner of the room.
"That crate" she said, "Do you see what's lying at the bottom?" she said.
"Oh that's just some old spare part lying around" said Jack dismissively.
"No! Look, it's something else" she said, as she neared the crate and bent down to take a closer look.
She moved the crate to take a look and suddenly exclaimed, "Jack! It's a trap door!"
"What? Let me see" he said.
"It makes perfect sense! They must have taken them down here!" she said.
"Only one way to find out" said Jack, with a resolved look on his face, opening the door to reveal a rickety ladder that seemingly went on into the darkness.
"You up for this Peggy?" he asked her.
She raised one eyebrow, her look clearly saying, What do you think, you idiot?
"Alright then, I'll go in first, you go after me" he said, as he started climbing down, careful not to make a noise and in a few moments Peggy started the descent as well.
They had been climbing down for about 5 minutes when Peggy said quietly, "Could anyone have imagined such a place existed right beneath this shop?"
"Yeah I know, Grekov must've known about it and maybe they forced him in here" replied Jack, looking up at her for a moment, instead being greeted by her shapely behind.
Damn, that woman's got some real curves, he thought.
Stuff it man, you're on a mission and you're staring at Peggy's ass, get it together Thompson, he chastised himself.
"Jack, are you listening to me?" Peggy was saying, and Jack stammered, clearly trying not to let his mind wander again, "Uh… sorry, what were you saying?"
"I was asking you if you think Grekov might be in on this whole thing. He does own this place after all" she said, from above him.
"Might be. He could've been pretending to be innocent when you and Sousa interrogated him. We'll know in a few minutes. I can see light at the bottom now, looks like we're finally there." he replied.
In a minute Jack had reached the bottom of the staircase. The ground was about two feet below and Jack jumped down. Just as he held out his hand to help Peggy get down properly, she chided him, "For heaven's sake Jack, I can manage myself"
"Can you?" a voice rang behind them. "I won't be so sure if I were you Agent Carter" said a man, emerging from the shadows, holding a gun in his hand, accompanied by two bulky men carrying machine guns.
It was Grekov.
"You!" exclaimed Peggy, "You lied to us!"
"Guilty as charged" laughed Grekov, his voice no longer like that of a terrified man, but cold and laced with malice. "I must say it is a pleasure to see you here Agent Carter. And I see you've brought a friend" he said, in his thick accent, looking at Thompson.
Both Peggy and Jack made identical movements, trying to take out their guns which they had put away while climbing down the ladder.
"Uh huh huh" said Grekov, pointing his own gun at them, "Don't try and get smart with me, or I'll have to kill you much sooner than I prefer. Now put your weapons on the ground like good kids"
They both looked at each other, and seeing as they had no choice, they did as they were told.
"Now let me take you to my secret place, Agents, so you can meet your dear friend. Don't worry, I haven't killed him yet. I waited for you to start the show" he smiled at them.
"You led us to Smith. You knew he was a pawn and knew nothing. You knew we'd come here! That…that man" she spluttered, "You paid him to lead us here." said Peggy, her eyes widening, as both she and Jack were being handcuffed by Grekov's men.
"Correct Agent Carter! I was, how do you say it in English, more than pleased, to see you and Agent Sousa when you walked into my shop." replied Grekov, as he started moving ahead, Jack and Peggy behind him, followed by his men.
"Of course, I would have loved to have killed you there and then, but I did not want to draw attention to myself. I waited for you and your American friends to show up again" he added.
"But why? What have I done?" asked Peggy angrily.
"What have you done?" he asked incredulously, turning back to look at her, "You Agent Carter, with your little friends, stopped Leviathan from completing its last mission in New York. You captured my dear friend Fenhoff and almost killed one of our dear Russian ladies, who is still on the run"
"So am I not justified in wanting to finish off you and your friend" he asked and Peggy gave him a cold look.
They were soon brought to a cavernous room, and both Jack and Peggy were tied down to two chairs, and both their mouths were gagged with thick cloths.
"I will see you shortly Agents, once I have dealt with dear Mr. Smith" Grekov leered at them, accompanied by his men and the firm click meant that they had both been locked in.
Just as the footsteps died away, Peggy motioned to Jack by moving her head, her mouth unable to make any coherent sounds.
She was tilting her head towards her waist, and Jack looked dumbfounded. She kept on pointing towards her waist and suddenly Jack understood what she was trying to say. There was something hidden there, a weapon maybe, to get them out of here.
He nodded his head and tried to move his chair by an angle of 90 degrees, so that he was facing sideways, but his palms were now next to her waist. He quickly tilted his head to the side, silently asking for her permission to touch her and she nodded.
His fingers were now at her waist, trying to locate whatever she had hidden there. His fingers fumbled around the belt loops and his fingers suddenly brushed against something that was hard and metallic. He quickly grasped it with his fingers, a tiny object, probably a pocket knife. Soon it was in his hands and he could almost feel Peggy heave a sigh of relief.
He looked at her and then began to use the tiny knife in zig zag motion, trying to cut through the ropes. About 5 minutes later, his hands were mercifully free. The moment his hands were free, he threw out the piece of cloth and quickly took out the piece of cloth stuffed in Peggy's mouth.
As she heaved a sigh, he quickly bent down to cut the ropes binding her to the chair and said, "You're brilliant. You know that, right?"
"So I've been told" replied Peggy with a hint of a smile and added urgently, "Quick, they could be back any moment"
Soon, they were both free and were now thinking of how to escape with no weapons to protect them.
Suddenly, Jack had an idea.
One of the men, a tall man armed with a rifle, was approaching the room where Peggy and Jack were being held. He saw the door knob moving and knew that they were trying to escape. His rifle held closely to his side, he quickly opened the door with the key and as he entered the room and shouted, "I will put a bullet through your skull if you try to escape".
He saw Peggy holding both her hands up in surrender. Before he had the time to register the fact that Jack was missing, he received a big blow at the back of his head. As he turned, he saw Jack holding a broken piece of a chair, and at that moment Peggy ran up to the man and kicked him hard in the shins. The man lost his balance, stars shining before his eyes, as he was kicked again, this time behind his knees. Someone took his rifle from him, and hit him with it on his head. Suddenly, everything went black.
"Come on let's get a move on" muttered Jack, looking at the unconscious man lying in front of them, "we don't have long. Are you comfortable running around in those?" he asked, pointing to her heels.
Peggy replied, "I can run faster than you while wearing these. Watch me" as she stepped outside the room to check for anyone else that might be in the vicinity.
"Come out. There seems to be no one here" she said, "You keep the gun. I can manage with this" she said, holding out her tiny razor sharp knife, and moved out quietly, Jack following behind, rifle poised to shoot if necessary.
Whatever this place was, it was huge. It was clear that they'd been kept in one small part of the whole area. Peggy wondered when and how this place had been created in New York, without anyone knowing.
As they moved out of one corridor, hiding behind pillars and anything else they could find, they saw at least a dozen men with rifles like the one Jack was carrying, patrolling the area. The most immediate concern was to get Peggy a gun to defend herself, and as they came across a lone man patrolling one of the corridors.
In no time, Peggy and Jack reached the corridor, Peggy from one side, bent down at the corner of the passage, waiting for the man to turn the corner, while Jack was at the other end, waiting to jump into action. As the man turned, before he could make sense of a hunched down woman, he was stabbed in his thigh by a sharp object and a hand quickly grabbed his mouth, stopping him from making a noise. Suddenly, his rifle was taken by the woman, and he was hit with a sharp object and he saw no more.
Now that both of them were armed and more powerful consequently, they moved more easily through the corridors, silently crippling most of the guards they came across, not shooting anyone to avoid the noise.
Very soon, they were near a room inside which voices could be heard, the cackle of a man, the pleading voice of someone, and the soft purr of a woman's voice.
"Please, please don't shoot me. I have a family to look after" came Smith's voice.
"Oh but darling, you have no use now. What will we do with you?" came the soft purr of a woman's voice.
Jack motioned for Peggy to be ready and he held up three fingers to show when to kick down the door. On three, both of them kicked the door hard with their feet, and it fell down, and they were greeted with the sight of a very beautiful red haired woman, with a large knife in her hand, Grekov, who was still holding his gun, and Smith, who looked like he was being tortured, his face a mishmash of blue black bruising and red blood flowing freely from above his eyebrows where he had been cut only moments before.
The woman suddenly leaped, first quickly shooting Smith directly in the head and then tried to grab a hold of Peggy's rifle, while Peggy ran towards her, aiming a swift kick at her knees but missing, as the woman grabbed a hold of her leg and flipped her around.
Jack on the other hand, lunged for Grekov, who began shooting without aim, trying to injure any part of Jack.
A bullet lodged itself in Jack's bicep, spurting out blood. He drew back for a moment, a pained sound leaving his lips, but he lunged for Grekov once again, and grabbed a hold of his free arm, managing to twist it behind his back in moments. He then made use of Grekov's pain to use his other hand to grab a hold of his gun, and quickly took it out of his grasp. One swift punch and Grekov fell to the floor, unconscious. Clearly, Grekov wasn't trained to fight.
Meanwhile, Peggy who had been distracted when the bullet had hit Jack, was punished for her mistake of looking away when a kick at the back of her head made her fall on the ground. She saw stars and in that very moment the red haired woman grabbed Peggy's rifle which had fallen to the ground along with her. The woman leered at Peggy, and said, "Lose your focus, and you might just lose your life"
Just as she was aiming a shot at Peggy, Jack's voice came from the other end of the room, "You shoot her and I will punch so many holes in you that your body would be unrecognizable". He was holding his rifle in his hand, pointing it straight at the woman.
Just then, Peggy, who was lying on the ground, got back to her senses and sent a well-aimed kick to the woman's knees. The woman lost her balance but kept a firm hold on her rifle. Sensing that she was about to lose the fight, she cartwheeled towards the door, now definitely running to save her life.
Peggy and Jack both ran out of the room, but the woman was nowhere to be found.
"Damn she's fast" spat Jack.
"I am not sure. She may be lurking here somewhere." Said Peggy, looking around suspiciously for any signs. "Wait here" she said, and quickly went inside the room, and came back with the gun Grekov had been carrying and said, "It has only two bullets left. Might as well use it"
"We're going to have to get that bullet out" she said urgently, touching his bicep where the bullet had lodged itself. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as Jack hissed when she touched his arm.
Suddenly, there was a crashing noise, and then the sound of gunfire. They both bent down instinctively, but the gunfire seemed to be coming from the next corridor. Someone was shouting "SSR! SSR, put your weapons down"
"Come on. It's our Agents. They've tracked us down. We have to get to them" said Peggy urgently, looking at Jack, who was suddenly looking very pale.
Now the sound was even closer and Jack's mind was suddenly taking him back to Okinawa. Someone was yelling "Get down! Get down" and Jack was faced with those five Japanese soldiers, all aiming their guns at him.
He was trembling, he couldn't move if he wanted to. They were closing in, all of them. They were here to take revenge. Someone was shaking him violently,
"Jack! Jack snap out of it! Jack, can you hear me?" a voice was saying, and suddenly, he saw Peggy, not the Japanese soldiers. Peggy, who was shaking him violently, asking him to get up, "Jack we have to go! We have to run! You don't have to shoot just get up!"
He came to his senses, and got to his feet little shakily, Peggy holding on to his arm to support him.
As Jack got back to his feet, both of them were now running towards the next corridor, where a raging gun battle was going on between the SSR agents and the remaining guards.
"Grekov!" Jack exclaimed, "He's still in there. He's unconscious, but we can't just leave him there"
"We can't go back now, we have to get you out of here, you're bleeding. I'll go and get him" replied Peggy, tersely.
"No, we have to go back NOW!" he said forcefully, "Or he'll find a new hidey hole and this whole thing will be a waste of time. Come on Peggy, we gotta go back!"
"There's only one way." said Peggy, a resolved look on her face, "I'll go and get him. But you have to get out of here now. No!" she added, "You are not coming with me."
Jack, seeing that there was no way she was going to listen to him, agreed reluctantly, slumping on the ground, his arm throbbing painfully.
" I won't go in, but I am not going out without you either" he said.
Peggy made a frustrated noise, and quickly disappeared down the hallway.
A few minutes passed, with Jack waiting for Peggy to come back, the continuous sound of bullets roaring continued, but Jack could not get himself to go in the middle of it, especially when it seemed like he was not in a condition to fight.
Soon, he heard footsteps, and was relieved to see Peggy bringing Grekov with her, who was handcuffed with the same handcuffs that had been used on him and Peggy when they'd arrived here.
Jack got to his feet slowly, and there was only a moment for him to smile at her, when he suddenly saw something emerge from the side of the room, and in a moment, he saw Peggy get a swift kick in the back, as her gun fell out of her hand.
Poised with his rifle, he saw who it was. The red haired woman was back, and she now had Peggy in a headlock. Her eyes glinted malevolently, and she said, "Drop your gun right now or I'll have to blow your sweetheart to pieces. Let us walk out of here and you'll have your dear lady back"
"Jack don't listen to her, just shoot" Peggy shouted and the woman tightened her hold, and Jack saw Peggy's face turning blue from the lack of air. She was trapped, and was losing strength, her movements to struggle out becoming more and feebler by the second.
Jack stood there, paralyzed, not knowing what to do. Of course, he had to save Peggy, but how could he let Grekov and the woman walk out of there/ He cast a distressed look at Peggy, who widened her eyes, almost as if she had an idea. She cast a small look at her feet and suddenly Jack understood. In a moment, Peggy had stomped hard on the woman's feet, who emitted a cry, and as the woman let go of Peggy, Peggy rammed her elbow into the woman's abdomen. The woman fell back but had enough wits to hold on to her gun and was just on the verge of pointing it at Peggy. Jack who was still holding his gun understood what she was about to do and without thinking, aimed his gun at the woman and shot her once, twice, thrice, right in her stomach, before she could hurt Peggy.
There was a moment's silence when both Peggy and Jack heaved a sigh of relief, looking at the woman's lifeless body, both glad that it was all almost over.
"Looks like the fighting's over" said Peggy, looking at Jack. Suddenly there were footsteps behind Jack, who quickly turned around, ready to shoot. Instead they were greeted by the faces of 5 fellow SSR agents.
Ramirez, who seemed to be leading the team cast a surprised look at the sight of them both, Jack bleeding profusely from his arm, Peggy's arms and face bruised in places, Grekov, handcuffed, in the corner and a dead woman lying on the floor.
"You're- you're alive Chief, Carter. We thought you'd be dead by now, given the circumstances." he said.
"Yeah well thanks for believing in us, Ramirez." Jack said dryly, " Smith is dead, he was killed by that woman. He's in one of the rooms. Sweep in every inch of this area to make sure no one's hiding in. Now how about you take this man in custody," he said pointing to Grekov, "While I go and make sure that I don't bleed to death"
"Carter, you coming? Or do you want to battle a few more Russian assassins down here" he smiled slyly at her.
"Coming" she cast him a small smile, marveling at the fact that only about half an hour ago the same man had been trembling with fear, and now here he was, back as the Chief of the SSR. In a few minutes they were back upstairs in Grekov's store room, where they were greeted by Daniel.
"Oh thank god you two are alright." he said, as he helped Jack out of the trapdoor.
"Yeah just about so" replied Jack,
"How did you know where to look, Sousa?" he asked, as Peggy emerged out of the trapdoor.
"Well, Peggy had said you were going to Grekov's shop and when you hadn't come back after an hour, we thought something was seriously wrong. So I decided to come down here and when I saw the police car and your car parked here, I thought you were in trouble. So I called back at the office, asked the teams to come down here and have a look. We saw the store room door open, and thankfully you seemed to have moved a few things around in this room. I saw the handle of a door and I knew you were down here. Since I couldn't go all the way down there, I sent in 6 of them" he said, pointing to SSR agents who were now emerging.
"6!" exclaimed Peggy, "but there were only 5 of them, is anyone-" when Daniel said, "No one's dead, Williams took a bullet to his thigh so we got him out of there"
"I think that's enough talking for now, Thompson, you need to get this bullet out" he added.
Soon, a stretcher was called for an unwilling Jack, who insisted he could walk just fine, but one look from Peggy made him lie on it without further complaint.
"I'll come with you to the infirmary" she said, as he was being moved to a van, and she sat next to him, at the back of the van.
When they were on the road, Peggy who had been looking outside, suddenly felt her hand being grabbed and saw Jack interlacing his fingers with hers.
"Some day, huh?" he smiled at her.
"Yes pretty eventful I'd say" she smiled back, her heart beating a little faster as she held on to Jack's hand in her lap.
"Listen, I know I shouldn't have shot her, she could've led us to Leviathan. But when I saw she was going to shoot you-" when Peggy cut him off.
"I know that if you hadn't shot her, I would have been dead, Jack. And she wouldn't have opened her mouth, they're trained to give up their lives rather than reveal their secrets."
"And anyway" she added, "We have Grekov" she said, "I am glad he wasn't smart enough to make a run for it while we were fighting her"
"I really appreciate everything you did for the mission Peggy…and for me" he added after a pause, "You saved us. I know that" he said as he he gently tightened his hold on her hand.
"We saved ourselves" she smiled, returning the pressure.
"Stop trying to be noble Peggy, I freezed there, and if you hadn't been there-" he began.
"But you snapped out of it, and that's what matters."
"Yeah well I couldn't risk your life due to my…inability. You're too important to me" he said.
They both looked at each other for a few moments, emotions building up inside both of them. Peggy could hardly believe that she was in his office just that morning, trying to get him to talk to her, and she remembered their conversation, when he had almost admitted that he liked her. Well, looks like you like him too, if your fast beating heart and blush are any indication, she thought.
She finally saw him, a man who was smart, efficient, tough, curt and even arrogant in front of the world, but funny and charming when he was around her. A man who was broken from the war, just as she was, who was fighting his own demons, demons he had fought today, to save her. And suddenly she knew what she had to do.
Peggy bent forward and cupped the side of his face with her free hand, and pressed a kiss to his surprised mouth. He was still for a moment, but then he brought his free hand to tangle in her curls, and kissed her back with abandon, both of them trying to pour their pent up feelings towards each other in that long drawn kiss.
She smiled into the kiss, thinking how much she was enjoying her first kiss with Jack. Jack Thompson, of all the people in the world, she thought. Jack was smiling too, hardly able to believe that she actually liked him back, her soft lips moving firmly against his, her hand still cupping his face. They kissed for a few more glorious moments, before Peggy drew away, smiling.
Jack, who had a sly smile on his face, said, "So I assume this means you like me too?"
"Maybe" said Peggy, smiling mischievously, trying not to let him know just how fast her heartbeat was or how much she had enjoyed the kiss.
"And maybe we can change that maybe into a yes, after I take the lady out for dinner" said Jack, still smiling.
"I think we can talk about dinner after they remove the bullet from your arm and you're home from the infirmary" she laughed.
"Speaking of which," she added, "We're here" as the van came to a halt and the doors were opened to reveal two men ready to carry Jack into the infirmary, and she stepped out of it first.
"Hey Peggy" he shouted as he was on his way inside, "I'll see you around" he smiled.
Peggy waved at him and smiled back, shaking her head, her heart giddy with happiness for what felt like the first time in forever.
A/N II- Annnnnnnnd there we have it. I hope you guys liked how they finally got together. Honestly, I had a million different scenarios but I liked this one the most, it seemed most... i don't know, believable to me, I guess. Grekov's dialogues are written in normal English as I don't know how to incorporate his Russian accent. So I hope you guys imagine his accent as similar to that of Fenhoff. Let me know what you think of this chapterJ